AS ABOVE SO BELOW

What if the solution was not to destroy the existing city, but to build around, above and below it? With this radical reasoning, certain architects design Utopic plans to renovate Paris and Tokyo’s urban landscape and city lifestyles: a floor above the city’s zinc roofs, a city below the Seine or Edo River, or even an underground highway network.

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DOROGENPYO

In the middle of the Shuto expressway, just above the Nihonbashi Bridge there is a structure holding a single old street lamp. Shortly before the 1964 Olympics an express way was built over the Nihonbashi Bridge obscuring the classic view of mount Fuji from it.

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FLUCTUAT NEC MERGITUR

Plenty of water can be a blessing and a curse. Both Tokyo, formerly Edo, and Paris have suffered damages from river overflow and heavy rainfalls since the beginning of time.

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FROM TSUKIJI TO TOYOSU

The Tsukiji Market, opened in 1935, is one of the 11 central wholesale markets in Tokyo and the largest fish market in the world. The market conducts fish auctions every day.

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LIGHT CULTURE

The Japanese Color Woodblock Print, Spring Night at Ginza by Kasamatsu Shirō, originally made in 1934[1], portays a nostalgic glimpse of the Ginza of budding willows and soft lights before it became a carnival of flashing neon. By this illustration, many interesting facts are shown, about the atmosphere and light in the Ginza area.

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LIGHT POLLUTION

While Hong Kong is the most light polluted city, other cities that are facing this problem and that are often cited by institutions that study this type of pollution include Las Vegas, Tokyo, Seoul and New York. Trying to face these problems and keep the light pollution under moderation, the Tokyo government adopted a nonmandatory, voluntary approach and guidelines without binding force for all external lighting installations.

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MAISON DE LA PUBLICITÉ

Oscar Nitzchke's seminal project of 1935, La Maison de la Publicité, embraces the idea of an architecture intertwined with advertising. The façade elevation drawing depicts a media infrastructure that would support graphic information along the Champs Elysées: its steel structure would broadcast images, logos and illuminated messages constantly updated by a crane installed in the rooftop.

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“NATIONAL'S FIGHT LIGHT"

The core of advertisement lays on public opinion, and the effects its brings on people’s mindsets and behavior. Both Paris and Tokyo, have a strong relation between inhabitants and their landmarks. From postcards and illustrations of the illuminated Eiffel Tower and Louvre Pyramid, to city lights of Shibuya and Ginza.

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SHOKUNIKU MARKET

The Shokuniku Market located near Shinagawa train station is the only meat central wholesale market in Tokyo, which is mainly responsible for slaughtering and wholesale of livestock.
In the 19th century, as residents’ demand for meat increased, many scattered slaughterhouses and meat shops appeared in Tokyo.

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SUBSTATION

A mysterious underground infrastructure is buried under the Koyasan Tokyo Betsuin temple. It’s a TEPCO electrical distribution substation that has supplied electricity for Minato Ward, Meguro Ward, Shinagawa Ward, and Ota Ward since 1980. The size of this substation is about half as large as Tokyo Dome, and it is 36 meters underground.

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